updated 07:55 pm EST, Thu December 17, 2009

Company taking pre-orders for JooJoo tablet

Fusion Garage on Thursday responded to the lawsuit filed by Michael Arrington of TechCrunch.The company claims it has already received $3 million in funding, while a second round will be announced sometime in the next few weeks. Fusion has maintained that its Joojoo tablet design is separate from the CrunchPad, while the manufacturing will also be handled by a different supplier.

Fusion also claims that Arrington's promise of hardware development support "proved to be hollow." The company denies that the joojoo utilizes intellectual property owned by Petragon, the original manufacturer that was expected to produce the CrunchPad.

"Since our first public statements on the joojoo, we have taken the high road regarding past interactions with Arrington and TechCrunch," Fusion Garage claims. "We find Arrington's ongoing attempts to bully public opinion and members of the media to be the sad rants of a person championing a losing cause."

A recent report suggests Arrington has yet to present any contracts or other agreements proving sole ownership of the tablet design, while the CruchPad trademark was only filed after Fusion Garage parted from the project. The legal process is in the beginning stages, however, and further developments may clarify the ownership dispute. [viaGizmodo]